Retractable locking hinge



June 1954 M. s. JOHNSON 2, 8 ,470

RETRACTABLE LOCKING HINGE Filed Jan. 26, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet l 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII f\\\\\\\\ IN V EN TOR.

M. S. JOHNSON RETRACTABLE LOCKING HINGE June 22, 1954 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1952 June 22, 1954 M. s. JOHNSON 2,681,470

5 NGE Filed Jan. 26,1952 4 Sheets-Shea i 212 Hr W H W H 5 l HI IW M j zzg/ ,22 WI T LI W WIN w" 2; v 235 v WV; 1 k

wig]

June 22, 1954 Filed Jan. 26, 1952 M. S. JOHNSON RETRACTABLE LOCKING HINGE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ffalcolzzz :5. tlafizzaozz Byg I I 1 Patented June 22, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RETRACTABLE LOCKING HINGE Malcolm S. Johnson, Flossmoor, Ill., assignor to Central Railway Supply Company, Chicago, 111.,

a corporation of Illinois 6 Claims.

My invention relates to a hinge which, for purposes of exemplification, is shown adapted for use with the lower or clean-out boards of railroad box or house cars and which is equally adaptable to doors and has many other uses; the invention having for its object the provision of a hinge with a rotatable butt portion which will present no outwardly projecting portions when the clean-out board, door or other object is in closed position so that no protruding injuryproducing surfaces are presented to the room side of the door or to the lading-encountering interior side of the car lining.

The invention also has for its object, the provision of a hinge whose pivotal axis may be retracted into the body of the hinge which will prevent rotation when in that position; while the friction in the pivotal portion of the hinge will hold the door or board in open position without need for any separate locking mechanism.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a hinge of comparatively few and inexpensive parts which presents a closure at the pivotal portion of th hinge against passage of foreign matter.

The aforementioned objects and advantages, as well as the objects and advantages inherent in the invention will all be readily comprehended from the following detail description of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a face view of my improved hinge shown applied to portions of a vertical wall wherein the lower member or board is intended to fold or swing upwardly and the hinge shown in looking position.

Figure 2 is a similar view with the hinge in swinging position.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View of a portion of a house car floor and inner lining with the lower or bottom clean-out board in lowered r closed position and the hinge in retracted looking position; the view being taken substantially on the line 5--5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 2 with the hinge shown in door or board swinging or operative position.

Figure 7 is an end view of a portion of a house car inner side lining with hinged bottom board .swung upwardly with my improved hinge moved into opening position and a portion of the upright structural post in side elevation and the floor and outer wall shown in section.

Figure 8 is an exploded view of the various hinge parts shown in perspective and positioned for assembly.

As an xempliiication, I have shown the use of my improved hinge in connection with the lower or clean-out board of the inner side wall lining of a railroad house or box car, but its adaptation to other uses is readily apparent.

Present-day .box car interiors are lined with wood and the lining boards spaced approximately three inches from the outer side sheet or wall. When the car is loaded with flour or grain, some of the grain or flour finds its way or falls behind the inner lining by reason of knot-hole openings, breaks or spacing between the lining boards. This grain or flour must be cleaned out so as not to become infested with vermin, such as weevils and the like, which would contaminate subsequent grain loadings. In order to facilitate the cleaning operation, it is standard practice to leave approximately an inch and a half space or clearance between the car floor and bottom of the car lining and to employ a beveled or sloping strip of wood, called a grain strip, at the outside sheet or wall for directing the fallen grain toward the car interior.

One of the main objections to this method is that grain sifts rearward of the grain strip due to clearance or crevices between the grain strip and the outside Wall sheet, where it is more or less inaccessible and, therefore, becomes infested as previously stated and thorough cleaning and inspection through the inch and a half clearance is greatly hindered.

Another objection and disadvantage of this type of construction is the fact that small bags, such as five pound bags of sugar, can be forced or wedged into the inch and a half opening and be torn on the structural posts of the car.

A purpose of my invention is to hinge the lower lining board to swing upwardly inward to provide a larger clearance and clean-out opening at the bottom of the car inner wall and to lock the clean-out board in its normally closed and/or inwardly swung position.

The end lining in box cars runs vertically and is fastened by means of nails to horizontal wood furring strips which are bolted to the corrugated end sheet. As i apparent, this offers a multiple of ledges for trapping and holding grain, et cetera, that has sifted through cracks and holes in the lining. In order to enable the cleaning of these which is shown in connection with the inner side lining of a railroad box car provided with the usual structural side verticalpost 23, as shown in Figures 5 and 7 and the side lining boards as shown at 2 i, which are nailed or otherwise fixedly secured to the framing posts 23, except for the lower board Zia which I propose to hingedly secure to the superposed lining board ill by my improved hinge. V

The hinge consists of the outer or base hinge leaves 22 and 22a, which may be of any suitable shape in keeping with the use to which the hinge is to be applied with the leaf or strap 22, at its butt end, bent substantially at right angles as shown at 23 in Figure 8, with intermediate reenforcing or rigidifying ribs as at 24 and the right angularly disposed base portion 23 provided centrally with an opening or thimble portion as at 25; while the strap or leaf portion 22 is provided with a suitable number of bolt or screwreceiving openings as shown at 25. The base end 23, adjacent its side edges, is provided with downwardly and right angularly bent lips as at 27.

The mate or complementary strap 22c, likewise is provided with a suitable number of bolt or screw-receiving holes as at 28 and its butt end 29 bent substantially at right angles, preferably provided with rigidifying ribs or elongated bosses as at 38, as the straps 22 and 22d preferably consist of stamped or forged sheet steel. The butt end 29 is likewise centrally provided with an opening and thimble at 3!, with the thimble disposed oppositely to the direction of thimble 25 in the complementary member previously described and shown at the top of Figure 8; and the base or butt end 29 at opposite ends provided with the angularly bent lips 32, disposed in the opposite direction of lips 21.

Arranged between the butt ends 23 and 29 are a pair of pivot-providing plates or members 33 and 3'4, likewise shown as preferably stamped out of sheet metal and reduced in width, with the reduced end of plate 33 bent or curled downwardly upon itself as shown at while the reduced end of plate 3c is curled upwardly upon itself as shown at 35; see the exploded Figure 8.

Plate 33 at its wide end is provided with a downwardly disposed flange 31; while mem er or plate 34 is formed with an upwardly disposed flange 38. Member or plate 33 is provided with a hole 39 to receive the nipple or thimble of opening 25 in the butt end 23 of the hinge strap or leaf 22 at the top of Figure 8; while the hole in member 34 receives the thimble 3! of the hinge strap or leaf 22a at the bottom of Figure 8.

After the nipples or thimbles 25 and 3| are upset in their respective holes 39 and 40, somewhat in the nature of grommets, the members 33 and 34 are permitted to swivel or be swung about their respective nipples and to be held against separation from their respective hinge straps.

The narrow curled end 35 is of less width than the curled end 36 of member 34 and is intended to pass through a slot 4! formed at the base of the curled end 36 of member 34 when the members 33 and 34 are assembled into operative position with the curled end 35 of member 33 rolled about the curled end 36 of member 34 and the distal end of the curled portion 35 disposed through slot 4| as shown in Figure 5. As is apparent from the construction, the curled portions 35 and 36 hingedly secure members 33 and 34 together and through the medium of the grommets 25 and 3!, the straps or hinge leaves 22, 22a are secured to each other; the interengaging curled portions 35 and 33 forming the main pivot of the composite hinge. It, therefore, is apparent that when the pivot 35, 36 is positioned to the other side, or the side disposed in the direction of desired movement of the door or clean-out board as shown in Figure 6, the cleanout board Zia may be lifted or swung upwardly into the position shown in Figure 7. In other words, as long as the pivot or hinge portions 33 and 34 are disposed to the outside or car interior as shown in Figure 6, the hinge is in operative position.

With the door or clean-out board closed as shown in Figure 6, the hinge members 33 and 34, by the use of a suitable pin or screw driver inserted into the socket of the-curled portions 35 and 38, may be swung horizontally one hundred and eighty degrees about their swiveled points 25 and El into the position shown in Figure 5 and thereby lock the clean-out board 2 la against upward or outward swinging movement.

Accidental pivotal movements of the hinge when in the open position shown in Figure 7 will be prevented by the frictional condition between the female and the male members of the hinge butt produced by the shoulder or off-set at 36a, see Figure 8.

Free or accidental swinging movement of the hinge members 33 and 34 will be prevented by the rearwardly depressed portions 42 on the strap portion 23, which are adapted to extend into the socketed portions 43. of hinge plate 33 and the sockets .4 on hinge member 34 which receive the ribs or bosses 38 of strap portion 29, see Figure 8.

When the butt portions 33 and 34 have been rotated inwardly or rearwardly against the direction of proper movement of the door or board 21a,

as shown in Figure 5, the lips 2'! of hinge strap 22 and lips 32 of hinge strap 22a and the flanges 31 and 38 of hinge butt members 33 and 34 will be in respective abutting alignment as shown in Figure 1, thereby providing a closure against passage of grain or other lading material.

For the purpose of exemplification, my improved hinge is shown in connection with the bottom or clean-out board of the house car inner lining. By the use of my improved hinge. a clean-out space of considerable size is provided instead of the narrow inch and a half space heretofore employed, enabling proper cleaning while at the same time permitting the bottom lining board to extend flush with the car floor and thus preventing commodities becoming wedged as heretofore has been the case, as the bottom board will be locked against outward movement upon retraction or inward rotation of the butt-forming members.

As is apparent, this improved hinge is equally adaptable to any doors or swingingly mounted member and may have any size or shape suitable for the use for which it is intended; and whi le the retractable hinge permits swinging in one direction only, the direction may be changed by proper rotation of the butt members.

When the hinge is employed for the clean-out boards-or for any other use-the clean-out board Zia, as shown in Figure '7, will be held in its raised position by internal resistance-as for example, the shoulder or off-set 36a, thus obviating the necessity for any separate board-holding means. When the pivotal axis of the hinge is retracted, the door or board will not open.

The hinge becomes a permanent part of the car, as the butt-members normally are rotated into retracted position as shown in Figure 5. It is also evident, in order to provide an unobstructed lining surface, that the straps may be secured on the rear or inner side of the lining and when the board is to be swung into clean-out position, the hinge butt members must be rotated outwardly as shown in Figure 6; the boards swinging apart as soon as rotation begins and hence there is no need to modify the edges of the boards in order to provide swinging clearance. As a result, a flush relation between the boards is provided when the board is locked in place by retraction of the butt members.

The exemplification shown and described is believed to be the simplest embodiment of the invention, but modifications are possible and may be made, however, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hinge composed of a pair of hinge straps having right angularly disposed base ends, the straps being adapted to be secured to a side of a stationary post or member and to aswingable member; a pair of butt or pivot-providing members, each non-removably secured to the angular base end of its respective strap so as to permit rotative movement parallel with the base ends of the straps about a fixed pivot point, said butt or pivot-providing members having interengaging hinged relation with each other and said butt members capable of rotation so as to dispose said hinged relation between the butt members upon rotation to opposite sides of the swingable member.

2. A hinge for a swingable door or member composed of a pair of attaching straps or members with angularly disposed base ends adapted to extend between a fixed element or wall and a hingedly connected element or door; and a pair of pivot-providing plates arranged flush with said base ends and each fixedly swiveled on its adjacent base end so as to be capable of rotation horizontally about a fixed axis, the free ends of said plates extending beyond the plane of said straps and arranged to provide interengaging hinged relation with each other, said plates being capable of rotation about their fixed axes flush with the base ends of said straps so as to present said interengaged hinge ends at opposite sides of the door.

3. A hinge for a door or closure element and an immovable post or stationary element composed of a pair of attaching members having matching angular ends adapted to be disposed in parallel relation between the opposing edges of both elements; and a pair of hinge providing plates having curled ends arranged to telescope or fit within each other to form a hinge, each plate being rotatably secured to the angular end of its respective attaching member and arranged flush with each other and with said ends so as to provide a smooth uninterrupted surface at one side of both elements, while permitting the curled telescopic ends of the plates to be rotated to either side of the closure element and to constitute a lock when said curled telescoped ends of the hinge providing plates have been rotated and extend beyond the free ends of the attaching members away from the direction of swing or" the closure element.

4. A hinge of the character described comprising a pair of attaching members whose free ends are bent laterally substantially at right angles and said bent ends provided with perpendicular lips disposed in opposing relation, saiol bent ends being each provided with a perpendicular pivotproviding point; and a pair of hinge-forming plates rotatably secured on said pivot points and provided at their attached ends with matching perpendicular flanges adapted to align with said perpendicular lips to provide a closure for the crevice between the plates and attaching members, while the opposite free ends of the plates have matching curled portions adapted to effect hinge-forming relation with each other, said plates being rotatable about said pivot points of the attaching members to permit the curled hinge-forming ends of the plates to be rotated toward the opposite side of the attaching members.

5. A hinge of the character described comprising a pair of attaching members whose free ends are bent perpendicularly toward each other and said ends adapted to extend in parallel relation between a wall or fixed element and the adjacent edge of a swingable door or movable element, said bent ends each being provided with a perpendicular nipple; and a pair of hinge-forming plates rotatably secured at one of their ends on said nipples, while the other ends of said plates are curled upon themselves to effect interengaging swinging or hinged relation with each other, said plates being rotatable to present the curled interengaging ends to be swung to opposite sides of the fixed and swingable elements.

6. A hinge comprising a pair of attaching strap members whose free ends are bent laterally to extend parallel to each other between the opposing edges of an immovable member or wall and a swingable member or door; and a pair of plates pivotally connected adjacent one of their ends to the bent ends of the strap members so as to rotate transversely about fixed axes between the ends, while the other ends of said. plate are curled and the curled ends arranged in telescopic hinge-forming relation and extend beyond the plane of said strap members, whereby the door or swingable member may be held against outward swinging movement when said telescoped ends of the plate have been rotated to the rear or inner side of the door or swingable member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 142,957 Spiegel Sept. 16, 1873 336,529 Riley Feb. 16, 1386 2,540,810 Clark Feb. 6, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 394,767 Great Britain July 6, 1933 

